Did You Spot the Gorilla? A Mind-Bending Optical Illusion Experiment

[Smurf]

I counted 14 but I'm pretty sure I missed at least 1 so I put 15. It might've been 16.

 

[hypnagogue]

This is a demonstration of a cognitive phenomenon known as inattentional blindness. I wouldn't call it an optical illusion, because it really has nothing to do with optics per se, but rather high-level cognitive (attentional) processing of visual stimuli. Many people don't see the gorilla because their attentional resources are devoted to the given task, to the exclusion of other visual events. It may even be that for this particular task, conscious representations of black figures (and thus the gorilla) are actively inhibited.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

This is a demonstration of a cognitive phenomenon known as inattentional blindness. I wouldn't call it an optical illusion, because it really has nothing to do with optics per se, but rather high-level cognitive (attentional) processing of visual stimuli. Many people don't see the gorilla because their attentional resources are devoted to the given task, to the exclusion of other visual events. It may even be that for this particular task, conscious representations of black figures (and thus the gorilla) are actively inhibited.

I used to play with this while at Dodger and Rams [then the LA Rams] games. Look for red in the crowd and the red jumps right out. Look for blue and you see the blue but not the red, etc.

 

[Smurf]

This is a demonstration of a cognitive phenomenon known as inattentional blindness. I wouldn't call it an optical illusion, because it really has nothing to do with optics per se, but rather high-level cognitive (attentional) processing of visual stimuli. Many people don't see the gorilla because their attentional resources are devoted to the given task, to the exclusion of other visual events. It may even be that for this particular task, conscious representations of black figures (and thus the gorilla) are actively inhibited.

That's pretty cool. I actually saw the guerrila, but completely ignored it (and thus, didn't register it as a guerilla at the time, but now that it's been mentioned i remember)

 

[cepheid]

I actually saw the guerrila.

WHOAH! What video were *you* watching?

 

[mattmns]

Smurf

 

[Cosmo16]

I saw the gorilla. 3 people I showed the clip to missed it though!

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

The first time I watched the video, I tried to keep my eye on the ball but lost count early on. By the time the gorilla came on I was no longer counting, so I was not distracted and saw it plainly. I then assumed that the point of the illusion was that the gorilla was going to pull a switcheroo on the basketball, so the second time I watched the video, I kept my eyes on the gorilla. No monkey business there. I then watched the video three more times, each time concentrating on a single person from the white team and counting the number of passes that individual made. I got 4 + 5 + 5 = 14, but it seems that this doesn't have anything to do with the question at hand.

 

[DaveC426913]

I got 4 + 5 + 5 = 14, but it seems that this doesn't have anything to do with the question at hand.

Yep. It was all about the gorilla. It seems it works better in a controlled demo than freely on the web, where anyone can view it at varying levels of scrutiny.


Try it on your friends, where you're controlling the demo. See if any of them get it.

I always ask "How many passes does the white team make?"
They watch the video intently, and at the end, confidently say "14!"
And then I say: "Good, now how many gorillas were there?"
They look blank, and then when I show them the video again, they get all suspicious and claim I pulled a switcheroo.

 

[mattmns]

14? I don't think that is correct. I think you guys are missing a quick pass.

 

[0TheSwerve0]

counting dribble passes too? I thought it was 16.

 

[0TheSwerve0]

not sure, but I thought I caught a member of the other team tossing a ball to one of the guys on the white team.

No wait, I think they were just standing between a pass and were partially blocked.

 

[cronxeh]

Answer is.. undefined. Nobody ever mentioned what a "white team" is! :zzz:

 

[DaveC426913]

IRRELEVANT!


Show me the monkey!
SHOW ME THE MONKEY!

 

[rachmaninoff]

This is ridiculous. Come on, fellow geeks, you can freeze-frame whenever you like!

A running commentary​

(from someone who's never even watched sports, and would prefer to be moved to tears by a monograph on relativistic electodynamics).

First thing one sees is a white-team guy receiving the ball (who passed it? no one knows), while the guy in black at the back passes to the front, through the guy in white;

0-1
white-black

Then black and white make passes in rapid succession, to the back;

1-2

White dribbles, while black makes a backhand throw:

1-3

Black makes another pass (to the front), while white dissapears from view for a couple of frames, as the girl dribbles behind the guy from the black team;

1-4

White makes a long pass, while the girl in black turns around really quickly and makes a pass to the front;

2-5

White makes two passes, right to middle to left, in the time it takes for black to make one pass, center to right;

4-6
Black passes to the rear left, while white dribbles through the middle; the balls are NOT switched, as you can clearly see in frame-by-frame analysis;

4-7

Black passes back to the front-right; a guy or girl in a gorilla suit enters from the right, but he/she/it appears harmless, so we choose to ignore their presence for now.

4-8

White makes a rather clumsly bounce-pass; black makes two passes in rapid succession, note carefully!

5-10

White makes a high pass from left to right, going over the head of the gorilla suit;

6-11

Black passes from the back center to the front right, as white dribbles through;

6-12

The guy in white makes a pass; he is enjoying himself too much.

7-12

The guy in black makes an underhand pass to the rear left that is almost impossible to see; frame-by-frame analysis illuminates this. Meanwhile, the girl in white bounces once and makes a quick pass to the back right. The gorilla suit gestures to the camera.

8-13

Two very quick passes from the corners to the opposite corners.

9-14

The girl in black politely hands the ball to her teammate, who makes a second pass to the back. Meanwhile, white also makes a pass, also to the back. The gorilla suit walking through stage left.

10-15

White bounces once and passes to the front. Black bounce-passes right-to-left. The gorilla suit is offstage.

11-16

White passes to the back. Black passes right. They are nearly synchronized at this point. I think the pace has picked up from the previous eight seconds.

12-17

White dribbles behind the enemy in the left corner. Black makes a pass on the right side.

12-18

Black passes left. White passes right-forwards.

13-19

Black passes right. White dribbles, then bounce-passes. The guy in black throws the ball in the air and catches it.

14-20

 

[mattmns]

I think 9 is why I chose 15.

 

[DaveC426913]

This is ridiculous. Come on, fellow geeks, you can freeze-frame whenever you like!

A running commentary​

(from someone who's never even watched sports, and would prefer to be moved to tears by a monograph on relativistic electodynamics).

First thing one sees is a white-team guy receiving the ball (who passed it? no one knows), while the guy in black at the back passes to the front, through the guy in white;

0-1
white-black

Then black and white make passes in rapid succession, to the back;

1-2

White dribbles, while black makes a backhand throw:

1-3

Black makes another pass (to the front), while white dissapears from view for a couple of frames, as the girl dribbles behind the guy from the black team;

1-4

White makes a long pass, while the girl in black turns around really quickly and makes a pass to the front;

2-5

White makes two passes, right to middle to left, in the time it takes for black to make one pass, center to right;

4-6
Black passes to the rear left, while white dribbles through the middle; the balls are NOT switched, as you can clearly see in frame-by-frame analysis;

4-7

Black passes back to the front-right; a guy or girl in a gorilla suit enters from the right, but he/she/it appears harmless, so we choose to ignore their presence for now.

4-8

White makes a rather clumsly bounce-pass; black makes two passes in rapid succession, note carefully!

5-10

White makes a high pass from left to right, going over the head of the gorilla suit;

6-11

Black passes from the back center to the front right, as white dribbles through;

6-12

The guy in white makes a pass; he is enjoying himself too much.

7-12

The guy in black makes an underhand pass to the rear left that is almost impossible to see; frame-by-frame analysis illuminates this. Meanwhile, the girl in white bounces once and makes a quick pass to the back right. The gorilla suit gestures to the camera.

8-13

Two very quick passes from the corners to the opposite corners.

9-14

The girl in black politely hands the ball to her teammate, who makes a second pass to the back. Meanwhile, white also makes a pass, also to the back. The gorilla suit walking through stage left.

10-15

White bounces once and passes to the front. Black bounce-passes right-to-left. The gorilla suit is offstage.

11-16

White passes to the back. Black passes right. They are nearly synchronized at this point. I think the pace has picked up from the previous eight seconds.

12-17

White dribbles behind the enemy in the left corner. Black makes a pass on the right side.

12-18

Black passes left. White passes right-forwards.

13-19

Black passes right. White dribbles, then bounce-passes. The guy in black throws the ball in the air and catches it.

14-20

Rachie, you have way too much time on your hands.

 

[Chi Meson]

Drat. You guys are excellent observers. It's not about the passing. It's about what you DIDN'T see. But most of you did.
When I tried this on my family, they were *convinced* that I had pulled a bait & switch on them, showing them a different video.
I would have liked to noit give away the secret, for the sake of future hopefuls, but too many of you have spilled the beans.

I was suspicious after getting half a dozen "jump-out-at-you" tricks. I just missed the fun and now it won't work for me .

 

[tribdog]

thank you for completely ruining my day. I didn't see a gorilla and now I feel like an idiot.